I have a rental home in San Diego, CA and my tenants have just finished a year lease and will be going to a m2m. They decided not to renew the lease and tried to find another rental, but they said they couldn't for a cheaper price, so they asked if they could go m2m. I believe it's because of the 3 dogs.....

My Problem is that the original lease states only 1 dog and now they have 3. The tenant says the other 2 are her son's and do not stay there, but have been there for 5 months without me knowing about them until last month. The original dog is a small pug, but the other two are Labs.

They say they stay outside, but the neighbors have noticed that they are not always outside.

I had just put up a new fence and installed new carpet and vinyl planks in the house before renting to them.

They are very clean except for the back yard. They say that the 2 other dogs are not staying, but I don't believe them.

My question is: 1. Can I increase the monthly rent for these other dogs or do I collect another pet deposit for them? The pet deposit for the original dog is $500.

They are having problems with money and I want to be sure that I will get reimbursed for the other two dogs for any damages.

My thought is collect the $1000.00 deposit for the other two dogs before they sign the new rental agreement. But I am sure she will tell me that the dogs will not be staying. I don't think she can come up with the extra deposit, so maybe increasing the rent is a better way.

The new m2m starts on June 1, 2012.

I really need your help. This is my first time renting my home and am not sure how to go about renewing the lease as a m2m rental and the wording to use for these other dogs and how to collect for them.

If you charge a pet deposit for one pet, you should charge it for all the pets. If the dogs will not be staying then if you make spot checks randomly in the month, then the dogs will not be there, right?

Thank you Charmed for answering so quickly. How do I write up the m2m rental agreement? Do I use the original lease and change the wording or add something to it? I know this sounds dumb, but I do not know these things.

So I should collect the $1000.00 up front, what if she says the dogs won't be there and they are? I know I can evict them, but what other options do I have?

Have you been a LL for long? I am so new at this rental thing. I have only had one tenant in my house and I am not sure I want to continue being a LL.

Some people have said that if you rent your own home for more than two years, you lose your tax write off. Do you know if this is true?

What you are at risk losing is not the tax write off- you are at risk losing the capital gains exemption. Talk to an accountant.

If you have a lot of capital gain (appreciation) in the home, you might be better off selling it, and taking the capital gains tax free- and buying the house next door to rent out. If you have little or no gains- don't worry about it.

We charge a $500 deposit PER PET.

I know some prefer to charge a monthly fee in addition

If they have extra dogs there-- send them a violation notice-- and charge them a fee for the notice. If they continue - send them an eviction notice. My experience is that if they don't follow the rules-- you will receive your property back with severe damage.

Does your lease state the amount of pets that tenants can have in the apartment? And what does it say concerning additional pet? Before you decide to ask for additional security deposit, read your agreement carefully.

Never refer to a pet fee as a "nonrefundable pet deposit". A deposit is, by definition, refundable. More than one owner has lost this in court by calling it a deposit. If it's not refundable, it's a PET FEE. I've seen judges say, "If you called it a deposit, you need to account for using it, or return it." Remember, nonrefundable money is always a nonrefundable pet fee.

This greatly depends on the language in your lease. In the future I would add an addendum saying exactly how many pets are allowed and how to renegotiate when a new one enters the picture and restricting or outright barring animal visitation. If there's nothing in your lease saying they aren't allowed to have animals as guests the burden of proof is on you to prove they actually live there.

Hey everyone, I'm actually doing some research on tenant screening. I have a short 2-3 minute survey (10 Multiple Choice Questions) if you could do me a favor and complete it, it would really help me out. No information is needed just the answers.

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